Just when the controversy over players writing Bible verses on their Pride Night hats was finally dying down, San Francisco Giants beat reporter Susan Slusser went and revived the drama.
Slusser was a guest on KNBR radio, and she was asked whether the Giants would struggle in the long term to attract free agents, since players are seeing that these individuals who wrote Bible verses on their Pride Night hats are being vilified by some fans and members of the media.
“I mean, bigoted free agents, maybe, I guess,” Slusser replied. “Look, Sam Hentges was the guy whose comments after that game, he chose to wear the regular Giants hat and not write a Bible verse, which is probably the right way to go about it, I think. Afterwards, he kind of held forth about morals and things like that, and it was pretty distasteful, some of those comments, to the LGBTQ community. He was a free agent who chose to sign in San Francisco. Probably not uppermost in your mind is thinking, ‘The Giants wear a Pride hat every year,’ but it is part and parcel, and he signed here.
“Certainly, it’s not a secret that San Francisco has a huge gay community, many gay fans. To me, this is a little bit on the players. If you don’t want to be a part of that, A, maybe don’t openly insult your paying customers after a game, but B, don’t sign here. Maybe that will happen. I don’t know. But that just seems honestly kinda crazy to me. You know where you’re coming. This is San Francisco. It’s not a secret.”
Susan Slusser has been defending her comments on social media
After her comments, Larry Krueger, who was subbing in as host during the interview with Susan Slusser, apparently posted something on X that painted Slusser in a negative light, which he then deleted.
Slusser’s response, however, is still live, and it reads, “It was in answer to YOUR QUESTION – and my response was ‘I guess maybe bigots.’ If you had a problem with the answer, say it then. On the air. This is utterly unprofessional.”
Ben Kaspick, host of MLB Game Night, on the Locked On Podcast Network, agreed, writing, “One hundred percent. Getting called out like this by a ‘professional journalist,’ after the fact while you’re no longer on the air for an interview, is utterly unprofessional. You’re great, Susan. Very glad you’re covering the #SFGiants, as difficult as that has proven to be.”
To Slusser’s credit, she has not shied away from anyone critical of what she said. She has been responding to dozens of them on X ever since the interview.